Major Grammy categories to feature eight nominees

The Recording Academy has announced that the amount of nominees selected in major Grammy categories such as Record, Song and Album of the Year and Best New Artist, will be expanded from five to eight.

The change was announced to Recording Academy members on Tuesday and will be implemented with the 61st annual Grammy Awards in 2019.

Recording Academy president and CEO Neil Portnow said that expanding the amount of eligible nominees from five to eight in some of the Grammy’s biggest categories will allow voters greater flexibility in choosing the year’s best recordings.

“This creates more opportunities for a wider-range of recognition in these important categories and gives more flexibility to our voters when having to make the often challenging decisions about representing excellence and the best in music for the year. We look forward to celebrating all of our nominees when they are announced later this year,” Portnow said in a statement.

The expansion comes following the 2018 Grammy Awards in January where Bruno Mars dominated the major categories, taking home the awards for Best Record, Song and Album.

The 2018 ceremony was criticized for the lack of female representation with male music stars Mars, Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar, Childish Gambino, Khalid and producer No I.D. receiving the most nominations across a number of categories.